Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s a High-Altitude Pseudo-Satellite (HAPS) — an uncrewed airship, plane or balloon watching over Earth from the stratosphere. Operating like satellites but from closer to Earth, HAPS are the ‘missing link’ between drones flying close to Earth’s surface and satellites orbiting in space.

As ESA’s umbrella programme for telecom, ARTES, celebrates its 25th year, we will be examining why it was set up, how it and the European satcom environment have evolved, the opportunities and challenges that both face today, and what the future holds.

It is nearly time for the first new electric propulsion module of Spacebus Neo to complete its last run of tests in Thales UK’s Belfast assembly centre before being shipped to Cannes for final spacecraft assembly.

There are yawning gaps in our interconnected world: unable or unwilling to take up satellite communications, many smaller ships find themselves isolated on the high seas. ESA is part of an ambitious effort to upgrade an existing VHF system to provide wide-bandwidth two-way communications to all mariners.

ESA Director General Jan Wörner signed a Memorandum of Intent with Rolls-Royce today, as the two entities agree to investigate how space technology can be used to develop autonomous and remote-controlled ships.

Today, ESA and an SES-led European consortium agreed to join forces to set up a new platform that will make secure and affordable satcoms available to public users, as part of a Europe-wide push to help governments get the most out of existing systems and services.

]]>f8a585d382717174b23b397482ef2b77Tue, 21 Nov 2017 07:33:00 +0100Secure satcoms
ESA is helping Europe's industry capitalise on the opportunities offered by the growing secure satcom market
]]>5576a7c87e7eb46ee3ee10706d30d46dFri, 12 Oct 2018 11:59:00 +0200Safer skies with space
Iris is testing a new satellite-based air–ground communication system for Air Traffic Management that will make aviation more efficient
]]>961c2ec7b69a314b6b90047896abf393Fri, 14 Sep 2018 10:15:00 +0200Bringing space to you
With the help of satellites, the next generation of communication – 5G – will connect everything and everyone, always
]]>b8bbf76efa14c8d5ce4f3ce9093d8670Thu, 31 May 2018 18:20:00 +0200